Behind the Veil
30th of September 2006 A.D.
In reply, you hand the letter over to Lydia. "His boss wants a meeting" you say, forcing a lightness into your voice that you don't really feel. With an effort, you stop and take Olivia's hand, squeezing it comfortably. "You did fine. " You look over to Lydia, who has just finished reading the letter, and hands it back to you, one eyebrow raised. "The soul of courtesy, that one."
You weigh the letter in your hand for a moment, then fumble it into your purse, drawing Clippy out instead. "I think" you say deliberately "the Order should stay out of Chinatown, and behind thresholds at night for the next week or so." You look at your phone. "Call Anna."
In spite of it being well past midnight and obviously being woken up by the call Anna Ash is obviously used to this sort of call. when she hears about the deaths in Chinatown she goes quiet. "I should have known, should have guessed something had happened..." she whispers into the phone, maybe without meaning to. After she composes herself she explains that en elderly herbalist and friend of the Order of the Cauldron named John Li had passed away last week, seeming to fade suddenly from exhaustion to coma to death. Anna knows enough about the hungry dead to recognize the mark of an elder feeding now that she knows such a one might be in the city, though her knowlege of the Jade Court does not extend to akuma or the horrors of Yomi Wan.
"Of course the damned can damn themselves even more, that's just how the world wonks isn't it?" the older woman says bitterly. "Is Olivia with you, I know you had some kind of outdoor seance going on at Bachelor's Grove...?"
"She is." With that weight taken off her chest ou leave Anna to the task of alerting the rest of the Order to stay clear of Chinatown
Speaking of Olivia the more you speak the more her expression darkens, fear and embarrassment fleeing before a rising tide of anger, but this is not the weary anger, mixed with sorrow that you had heard in Anna's voice. "I'm sick of this! Hiding and hoping the monsters will take someone else instead of me, never knowing which of my friends are going to have a closed casket funeral because vampire ripped out their throat or a redcap slit their throat, not even knowing if their family knows. I hate it!" A tremble runs through her body so faint eyes less sharp than yours might have missed it. "I hate that I'm so good at hiding."
A ripple of sympathy passes through the crowd of dead which had so far been watching the whole conversation like a particularly fascinating play. This time Lydia is the one to move first, squeezing Olivia in an awkward side hug, but she does not seem comforted. "I hate that all I'm good at is hiding."
"We'll deal this," you say, trying to project as much confidence as you can. "Monsters aren't going to have their way in Chicago for long."
She swallows drily. "I know you will, that doesn't make me feel any less like crap. I still know more than ninety nine percent of everyone else. I could help, at least as much as those cops out there who don't have any gift to their name, but I'm not good with guns, my
gran is probably better at killing than I am, at least she used to kill chickens for the pot. I hate them and I hate what they are doing, but you can't kill people with hate can you?"
Usum shifts in wordless approval, like the rasp of a serpent's coils moving against each other.
"The dark within is mightier than men know. Under your hand such invocations would lack the ordinary perils and might be removed as shadows are banished in the light of flame." You hear of course what he does not say, to empower the shadow-self, opposite of reason subconscious passion and desire would be excruciatingly painful, but only for a few minutes.
Would I have taken that deal three months ago if all I had otherwise was the ability to veil? Honesty compels you do to admit you would have.
Would Olivia...? The shadows, twist along the planes of her face and moonlight shines silver upon angry tears. She would try it without even blinking and she would not be the only one. How many people in the know about the supernatural feel helpless, angry, like they don't have the means to me more than prey? You could change that, you could help them find that strength within themselves.
You open your mouth to...
[] Make the offer (Must take Inner Devils Unchained Cost 12 XP)
[] Say goodbye
Arc Five Complete
Triumphs
- Impressed agents of the Library of Congress and gained a contact with them 2 XP
- Created a steady revenue stream in the form of Chicago Synthetics 2 XP
- Convinced Leech to be more careful about hacking by giving her a demon companion 1 XP
- Explained magic to your friends without them freaking out 1XP
- Discovered hints on the nature of the universe 1XP (Because it was mostly the Crown)
- Gained the respect of an elder of the White Court and the allegiance of one of the younger members 1XP
- Obtained insights into the methods of the White Court and gained leverage against one of their networks 2 XP
- Saved Agent Greene's life and gained her as a contact 1XP
- Uncovered Detective Greene's murderer/Warned Harry about the Skinwalker 1 XP
- Wrote the Big Book of Yomi Wan 1 XP
- Obtained insights into the strange name and its link to the Black Court 2 XP
- Expanded the Jade Dogs to include mortals and set down new rules to accommodate that 1XP
- Obtained new insights into the working of Dragon-Lines and the tech-bane. Ideas for more god crafting... 1 XP
- Continuing efforts to persuade Harry Dresden that you are a responsible and financially secure person 1 XP
- Taught your first mortal student sorcery 1 XP
- Informed Detective Murphy about the Naagloshii 1XP
- Introduced SI to friendly ghosts 1 XP (Will have a long term impact)
- Received a message from the akuma of Emma-O without giving insult while learning something of them 1XP
Total XP: 1 (Unspent) + 8 (XP Refunded from change in how Essence Rating is advanced) +21 (Earned this Arc) = 30
How do you spent your Essence?
Special
[] Alchemy: The Art of transmutation, not merely of matter, but mind and spirit. To all you have learned from Bob, all you have read in Harry's books the insights of an elder age are added, as steel is alloyed from charcoal and iron (Cost 3XP/Dot)
Constructive Convergence of Principles costs -2XP due to the feat of God-crafting
[] New Ability 3xp
[] Ancient sorcery spell 10xp
[] Attribute current rating *4xp
[] Ability current rating *2xp
[] Caste Ability current rating *1xp
[] Caste or Favored Charm Charm rating *3xp
[] Other Charm Charm rating *4xp
[] Willpower current rating
[] First dot of a Sorcerer Path 4xp
[] Follow-up dots in a Sorcerer Path current rating *3xp
[]Merit current rating *4xp
[] Buy down Touch of Frost
-[] 2 XP to remove
[] Buy down Nightmares (4 XP)
[] Write in
OOC: By Raw it would be 4 XP to start a sorcery path and then 3 from then on, but you guys got a 1 XP discount so it's 3/dot all the way
